A Promise of Fire is a fantasy romance and the first book in the Kingmaker Chronicles. I cannot, in good conscience, promise that this will be the last time you hear me talk about this book because I am obsessed. I will also go on record to say that, so far, this is the best book I’ve read in 2016. I want to read it again. I want the next book immediately, because the world that Amanda Bouchet has created is so stunning and I just want to be there forever and ever. I will give a word of warning in that the book can get very violent and deals with child and animal abuse as a backstory. But I never felt it was gratuitous.
A Promise of Fire is set in a world divided by three kingdoms (Fisa, Sinta, and Tarva), all of which were ruled by magic nobles (Magoi), until very recently. The kingdom of Sinta was recently taken over by a non-magic using family, which some people love and some people hate. Non-magic users are known as Hoi Polloi and pretty much Magoi treat them like crap. So a Hoi Polloi family being able to usurp magic-using royals is a pretty big deal.
The heroine, Cat, is in hiding. She’s a Kingmaker – a being born every couple hundred years who possesses the ability to tell whether or not someone is lying. If they lie, she suffers great pain. You can see why this is a desirable trait. She hails from Fisa, but hasn’t been back in some time because the Alpha (head ruler — next in line is Beta Fisa, then Gamma Fisa, and so on) is, to be frank, a psychopath. She’s had eight children, four of whom are dead. Alpha Fisa only wants the strongest, most ruthless children. Attachment is weakness and she actively pits her children against one another, leading them to kill each other. She’s remorseless and deeply cruel to her children in ways that are heart wrenching to read about. So, you can see why Cat left that kingdom.
When the book begins, she’s been gone for eight years, traveling with a pretty cool circus. Seriously, the opening chapter grabbed me immediately. The setting, the descriptions, and the world building are amazing in this book, which can be a trial for me with some fantasy-set novels.
A Promise of Fire takes a lot of inspiration from Greek history and Greek mythology. The royal titles like alpha or beta, the currency (I Googled) is ancient Greek, and the gods and goddess play a very big part in the action. Cat is a goddaughter of Poseidon. One of her fellow circus performers is Hades’ lover (and fair warning, I would totally love a book or novella about Selena and Hades). There are ocular dreams and visions. There’s Cerberus! If you’re a huge mythology nerd like myself, you’ll love this book.
The hero, Griffin, is the Hoi Polloi warlord who captured the kingdom of Sinta for his family, though he’s chosen not to take the throne. His sister is the Alpha, and he’s hoping her grace and humanitarian outlook will win over the kingdom, while he plays more of a vital role with strategy. He’s been studying Cat for weeks after seeing her in a vision. Once he realizes she’s the Kingmaker, he (naturally) kidnaps her with a magic rope. But aside from abducting her from the circus, Griffin and his team of soldiers treat her more like a friend. In his mind, they could very well work together. She wouldn’t be kept in a cell or a prisoner. She could have a life in Sinta as part of the court.
And then of course, a bunch of stuff happens and I don’t want to ruin it. There’s a road trip back to Sinta. Amazing battles where Cat is a badass. Court intrigue and scandal. But I just really want to talk about the characterization in this book because it’s so good.
What I truly loved about Cat is that she’s so flawed. Growing up, she was taught never to get attached, not even to family. And when she couldn’t take it anymore, she found a way to leave. But more than that, she’s afraid of turning into Alpha Fisa, of being brutal and dangerous and feared. You see her struggle with that tendency – it’s not just an aspiration but a real struggle to avoid being merciless. At one point, she melts a man’s face off without even batting an eye.
Magically, her abilities are pretty much unparalleled. She can absorb someone’s magic and use it against them (think Rogue from X-Men), though there’s some uncertainty in the amount of power she can maintain. She saves the hero on several occasions. She knows she’s a fucking beast and she isn’t afraid to say so. And she’s so desperate to be loved, though she knows it makes her weak.
Because her life has been rather lonely, always keeping herself at arm’s length from everyone, when she finally meets Griffin’s family, she’s astounded at how welcoming they are. But she cautions them, knowing that kindness is often mistaken for weakness. With all eyes on the Hoi Polloi ruling family, there will be plenty of people looking to overthrow them and put Magoi back on the throne.
Cat is a complex character and I truly loved reading about her. Her past is a big mystery and she doesn’t like talking about it. By the end of the book, readers will most likely figure things out, but Bouchet does an amazing job dropping little hints about Cat’s heritage and her upbringing without dumping information on the readers. It’s like a delicious little trail of candies leading to a box propped up with a stick. And by the time you connect most of the dots, you’re trapped. You can’t leave the story.
Griffin was genuine and earnest. He wanted to believe the best in people and I loved reading a romance where the “broken” character was the heroine, rather than the hero. Cat keeps wondering why Griffin was given this dream to find her and Poseidon reveals that Griffin was chosen and given to her for “healing.” And it was so sweet that I’m pretty sure I melted into a little puddle.
He’s not perfect, though. He has understandable and frustrating flaws. Once back at the Sintan kingdom, Griffin becomes a bit insensitive, but it made sense to me. While frustrating, I didn’t feel like it was needless. In fact, none of the obstacles between the hero and heroine felt unnecessary. Everything fit in terms of who was feeling what and why.
I wouldn’t describe Griffin as a Beta hero, but he definitely has Beta qualities to him. For example, Cat is plagued by night terrors that only calm when she’s sleeping near Griffin. However, she doesn’t want to admit it.
“You could come closer.” Griffin’s gravelly voice rumbles over me in the dark, teasing.
My pulse leaps, and I flush with embarrassment. “I don’t think so.”
“Suit yourself.”
“I hate you.”
He’s silent for a moment and then very deliberately says, “I hate you, too.”
His lie rips through me along with the truth, searing my bones and charring my organs, especially my heart.
Are you getting misty-eyed? Because I am. And I’ve read that passage like seven times already.
Admittedly, I found the adventuring part of the book more interesting than the court life aspect once they return to Sinta. But that doesn’t mean that it was bad or boring, just that the traveling and fighting was sooooo good. Once everyone returns to Sinta, that’s when more of the intrigue happens and I remember reading those pages with dread, waiting for someone to rat Cat out to her home kingdom or for someone to recognize her from Fisa. There was such a heavy pit in my stomach during those last fifty pages.
But I can assure you that there’s no huge cliffhanger. The ending, though, definitely set the next book up and leaves a lot of room for shit to really hit the fan. It’s more of a “calm before the storm” ending, and I’m glad Bouchet forwent the option of a cliffhanger. I’m not sure my body could have taken it.
I can say, without a doubt, that A Promise of Fire is going on my keeper shelf. I want more of these characters and I want more of this world. I cannot remember the last time I wanted to both savor and devour a book, and Bouchet’s writing is so engaging and magical that I wish she had some sort of backlist I could dive into for the next few months. If you’re even slightly tempted by this review or from the chapter one excerpt, buy this book. Because I need more people to discuss it with, pronto!
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Without spoilers – what KIND of animal abuse? Because the book sounds awesome, but that is a deal breaker for me. Is it a quick passage I can skip?
I usually read the first book in a series only when the entire series is out. Because I am horrible at waiting for the next book. But this book sounded sooo interesting , i read the excerpt and had to find out what happens. Bad call. I am now DYING to read the next book. I blame you for this. Damn you!
I’m really stuck on the “Hoi polloi” thing. That’s a joke term I grew up hearing as a snide way to refer to rich people, or people who think they’re better than you. Hearing it used in a high fantasy novel is weird and keeps jarring me out of the description in the review. Not that “muggle” isn’t, but I didn’t grow up hearing that one. Sounds like an interesting book though.
@Allie, me, too. I can’t really handle reading about that.
YASSSSSS. This book is amazing. Definitely my favorite book of 2016 thus far as well. And it’s going to kill me to wait until book 2 (with its lovely, lovely cover).
@Ellie & Lora: Let’s see if I can help! The incident is mentioned maybe twice? It isn’t super graphic and is usually no more than a couple sentences. Alpha Fisa killed Cat’s pet dog and it’s part of Cat’s backstory, so it doesn’t happen in real time. You can usually tell when Cat’s about to recount some bad stuff about her past. And if I recall, the incident is rather quick. The animal isn’t tortured or the scene gratuitously drawn out.
@Dora: That’s kind of interesting since that’s the opposite of the traditional Hoi Polloi meaning, which is more of a reference to “common people.” I’d definitely be curious to tracking the usage.
I just finished it last night. I couldn’t put it down. I ignored my husband, the kids, the pets. Best book I’ve read in a long time!
I read it, but found it a little shallow. A whole lotta “all four Warriors LOVEDI me, giggle giggle”. I recommended it to a friend who is Game of Thrones obsessed, b/c this book strikes me as high quality GOT fanfic.
I did enjoy the gods and magic, but there were elements of writing that kept jarring me out of the fantasy. I gave it a meh.
I read it (twice!) this weekend. My favorite so far this year – hands down. And I liked the new Colleen Hoover very much indeed…
Sold. Got a copy waiting for me 🙂
@Dora: Me too. I checked its etymology*, and it’s from Greek, but it still seems so out of place.
*Or is that the bug one?
From Wikipedia: Hoi polloi (Ancient Greek: οἱ πολλοί, hoi polloi, “the many”) is an expression from Greek that means the many or, in the strictest sense, the majority. In English, it has been corrupted by giving it a negative connotation to signify deprecation of the working class, commoners, the masses or common people in a derogatory or, more often today, ironic sense.
I’m thinking the author meant it in the “many” or “majority” sense.
Just started the book and enjoying it so far. I’m getting a little outdone with Cat though, wishing she’d take a chance with Griffin and give him a little trust. But with her background, I know it’ll take time. I need Poseidon to slap her up ‘side the head, lol.
@Carolyn: Oh…Poseidon does. 😛 Hope you like the rest of it!
And I definitely agree with your assessment, since a lot of the book is heavily influenced by Greek history and mythology.
Ok so the thing about hoi polloi is that since, as Carolyn explained above, it translates as ‘the many’ every time I see ‘the hoi polloi’ I experience a full body shudder of revulsion. No. Just no. It’s like the atm machine or the sat test, only worse because it’s ignorance/thoughtlessness compounded by, idk, pretension? It’s such unnecessary language cruelty.
Sadly, I fear my joyless pedantry will destroy my ability to enjoy this book. Does the book include the redundant the? I know this is a very petty and unreasonable pov, but we all have limitations as people.
@kkw: I don’t think it uses “the” and it’s just Hoi Polloi and Magoi.
I loved it. Definitely best book of the year so far!
I devoured this book over the weekend and loved it too. I love finding fantasy romance where the author actually gets the fantasy side right! January 2017 can’t come soon enough-can’t wait for the next one.
The UK version doesn’t have that cover, which is disappointing.
Bought it anyway though 😉
How amazing and fantastic this story is!!! Cat is so jaded. I love the book and the charactor too. This is really a nice book!
I’m currently halfway through this book and I have such mixed feelings. I love a good romantic fantasy and a lot of this is quite engrossing, but I just hit a point in the book where a woman randomly accuses Cat of “spreading her legs” and then there’s a pointless fight. I think despite having a “cynical badass” heroine, this book definitely falls into the virgin/whore complex when depicting women who aren’t the Super Duper Special Cynical Mary Sue heroine. Either they’re pure, sheltered, sweet and noble, or they’re pure evil or jealous bitches. There doesn’t seem to be an in-between, which is a huge shame since the heroine is written as morally ambiguous.
Also I’m not a fan of how Cat’s legitimate issues with being kidnapped are brushed aside with a “but he’s hot and noble, you just have to stop resisting.” I actually don’t have a huge issue with kidnapping plots in general, but they very much hinge on how they are resolved. While the readers know that the kidnappers are the “good guys,” there’s something deeply stressful about how Cat was kidnapped by five dudes, four of whom previously unequivocally expressed that they were blindly loyal to their leader. Maybe I’m just deeply suspicious of brotherhood, but you know what kinds of dudes are also deeply loyal? The male friends of men who have raped women, the ones who cannot believe that their friend could do something wrong and therefore something must be wrong with their accuser.
I couldn’t tear myself away from this last week! Part of what makes it so amazing is the high quality everything. Even a great cover (thank you, cover gods!). Writing, worldbuilding (Greek mythology!), pacing, characters, mystery, adventure, and a romance that really squeezed my heart (it wrecked me).
This book is written from Cat’s POV. Not only is the writing strong and consistent, it’s infused with Cat’s humor, cynicism, caution, independence, intelligence, and even the tendencies she fights toward ruthlessness and brutality. Here’s a few samples:
He keeps staring at me, and a shiver prickles my spine. Is this man my enemy? There’s no reason to think so, but I didn’t stay alive this long without the help of a healthy does of paranoia.
The mace he carries tells me he’d rather bludgeon than slice. I get that. There’s something satisfying about whacking people over the head.
What’s wrong with me? I must be coming down with something, like empathy. Gah!
Men don’t understand discretion. My goal is to survive on my weakest abilities.
The other characters are no weaklings, either. They are all of them unique. As Amanda mentioned, the author is very good dropping little hints, and I think she does this for non MCs as well. They were mostly introduced and given a little depth here, and I think we’ll get to see lots of character development, not only from Cat and Griffin, but everyone else as well.
I divide this book into two parts: the roadtrip to Sinta City and the time after they reach/in Sinta City. Both parts have some blood pounding passages of action and adventure. I had a hard enough time putting this book down as it was, but it was pretty much impossible during these scenes. It also helped set great pacing.
There is an excerpt for the second book included and…just based on that excerpt I think the second installment will be even better than the first. And that’s saying something!
SPOILERS beyond this point…
Amanda – there were a few passages and lines that just plain ripped my heart out. Some of them are so jarring because they’re dropped right in there, almost casually. SPOILER QUOTE: “I dread this power he has over me. It makes me want to tell him all my secrets and see if he still wants me.”
Seriously, I just can’t.
If I had to pick anything to be fussy about… You said Cat’s magic is “pretty much unparalleled”. This led to a few moments that felt a bit deus ex machina. Though with Cat’s favored protection from Poseidon, Hades and probably Zeus, I can’t help but wonder if that was the point?
END SPOILERS
Like you, Amanda, one of my favorite things is the heroine, rather than the hero, is the one who is damaged, tortured, and has serious trust issues. On a very personal level, I find this so relatable. I wish a larger percentage of romances had a well-adjusted hero with a wonderful family and no chip on his shoulder paired with a damaged heroine who the hero isn’t shown so much as protecting or fixing and is, above all, a partner. There are books that fit this, but this one stands out because, despite her flaws, I don’t think Cat starts out on unequal footing. Griffin is definitely a badass, but Cat is in a league of her own. And Poseidon reveals Griffin was given to Cat for “healing”. Not to fix her brokenness but more for her to open up and be happy and have a home and love and a family.
I read a lot of PNR/UF, so I also appreciate how this, to me and probably unintentionally, turns the idea of “matehood” on its head by explicitly stating Griffin, the male, is meant for Cat, the female. Not that he doesn’t pretty much consider her his from the start. But still. And we’re actually given a reason why (healing). Finally! I’m not a fan of fate and though it plays a part, I think there’s more than meets the eye with this book.
What I think is kinda genius about this is it left me just as anxious for the next book as a cliffhanger would. Those last 50 pages were nail biting for me, too, and I really think they were far more effective at making me want more than a real cliffhanger. Idk, I guess cliffhangers have their place, but to me they seem cheap compared to something like this. Done right, you can leave your readers begging for more without leaving the heroine in an ongoing mortal peril situation.
In a lot of ways, I loved this book because it was a “just what the doctor ordered” kind of thing. I recently made the decision to abandon a wildly popular PNR series that was basically my favorite series ever because I couldn’t stand the overwrought writing, campy characterizations, and what seems like a complete lack of editing anymore. And I may or may not jump ship on another huge PNR series that recently went through a shakeup where the close to nonexistent communication from the author doesn’t inspire me to accept her vague assurances that “it will all work out”.
So this was a total breath of fresh air. I’ve already written a request to my local library to get a copy of this, stat.
Alpha Fisa is probably just as – if not more – nasty than Cat remembers. Female villains aren’t so rare, but this one promises to be rotten to the core, like completely beyond redemption. but I hope it will be with just as much dimension as the other characters. I’m really looking forward to meeting her. Do you think that encounter will happen in the next book or will the big showdown round out the trilogy?
I already know I’m going to hate leaving this story universe after the trilogy ends. I hope Amanda Bouchet develops some characters/plots that would make compelling stories on their own over the next two books!
@Linda: I understand some of your concerns, but I also disagree mostly.
Regarding other females in the book, many of them fall into that dichotomy, but I think there’s a lot of in between. You have pure/noble and evil/noble, for example. I loved the women of the circus, since they seemed a bit more well-rounded rather than falling into one end of the spectrum or another and I definitely would love to see more of them. But for me, a majority of the characterization made sense given the characters’ backgrounds.
In terms of the kidnapping aspect (and I actually tend to hate kidnapping plots in romances), Cat’s lie-detection really changed my opinion on whether or not I was going to enjoy this book. If they said they weren’t going to hurt her and she felt their lie, this would have been an entirely different story and I probably wouldn’t have continued. I don’t mind reading dark romances, but I certainly didn’t feel like reading about a woman at the mercy of five men at the moment. But I also got the sense that the “good guys” were just doing what they could to both maintain their own personal morals while trying to put Sinta in a better place, since they clearly aren’t used to ruling a kingdom. I think if Cat ever felt her life was in real danger with these men, she would have felt it. I will also say that while they are loyal to Griffin, they don’t hesitate in voicing their opinions if he’s being a jerk or if Cat makes a decent point in terms of strategy or what have you.
@Alex: So glad you liked it!
I pretty much agree with everything you said, haha! It’s also really heartbreaking how Cat sort of normalizes her pain and the violence she experiences. Additionally, I want to know more about how gods’ influences function. How common is it to be blessed by a god? Are they going to expect something in return from Cat?
I definitely think something will happen with Alpha Fisa, but of course, the climactic big fight probably won’t happen until the last book. But there’s no way Cat can go another full book without sharing her full story with Griffin and I’m very excited to see what other characters will be introduced. I’m also SUPER interested in knowing what will become of Cat’s blast from the past at the end of the book. And who the hell is this Thanos dude she mentions in her memories a lot?!
I have so many questions! I also don’t know how I’ll feel once the series is over. Will I want to see romances between other characters set in the same universe? Or would I prefer something new? I’m really not sure and I think that depends on what happens in the next books, but I know I’ll definitely pick up whatever Bouchet decides to write following Cat & Griffin’s story.
After this amazing review and insightful comments, I can’t just pass this one by. Buying it.
Don’t over think this. It’s a very good book with a strong heroine. Not quite as well written as the Kate Daniels series has some similarities. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next one!
Glad to read the great review since I picked this up at Walmart last week (at 25% off! Squee!), and I’ve really been looking forward to it.
@Amanda: I see this, but it’s quite possible for people to believe they aren’t going to hurt you/won’t be hurting you and do it anyway because their cause is righteous. To get a little heavy, an abusive parent can very much believe that everything they are doing isn’t hurting their child because it’s for their own good. Would a lie detector pick it up if you believed something to do be truth that was not? All the demonstrations of her lie detecting skills have been straightforwardly whether someone believed they were lying or not. (Also, is there really an absolute truth in many situations? I said found aspects of this book problematic but you said you did not and I don’t think either of us is lying.)
Plus in general, the dudes spend a lot of time dragging her around in a deeply uncomfortable situation against her clearly expressed wishes *and* they tie her a rock in a cave during a fight/keep trying to keep her tied up during fights leaving her vulnerable if they were to get killed. It also comes out that Cat has a history of being traumatized from being locked up and caged. I am generally not okay when people respond to a person saying “stop doing this shitty thing to me” by saying “we could have done xyz in worse more painful ways.” Which they do in the beginning where she’s calling them out for being awful to her and the hero literally says “if we wanted to hurt you would be knocked out instead.” I think sometimes when it comes to harassment, people minimize women’s experiences until it crosses *a line.* For instance, a close friend of mine’s ex spent months sending her harassing text messages that people dismissed until he hurt her (in a way that wasn’t strictly emotional) and then suddenly people were like “okay now we can believe he’s a bad person and will stop being his friend.”
I kept reading today and she once again expresses how she didn’t like being kidnapped and the dude’s sister says “get over it.” Like holy shit.
Honestly I thought the whole being ~~tied together~~ thing was hot. I’m extremely fine with that shit in my reading, but the heroine clearly and constantly expresses how she didn’t like it and how she wasn’t okay with it only to have her wishes minimized and dismissed and that’s what bothered me. There are ways to write kidnapping plots and unless literally everyone starts apologizing to her soon (I’m at 60%) I don’t think that this book has it.
I don’t think any of this is malicious on Bouchet’s part, but I don’t think that something needs to be malicious to be worrisome. (Which could also be an analogy for the kidnapping/forced march of this novel.)
And as for the women… I was optimistic because the women of the circus were depicted as her well rounded friends… but I find the depiction of large groups of women as “jealous” off the bat (which is the case with the women in the barracks) to be deeply suspicious and very “not like the girls”-y. I imagine lady soldiers have way more shit to do than to immediately and irrationally hate on the ~~new girl~~ because she’s sitting at the hot guys table. I mean, if I was a female soldier in a fantasy world I would be flexing in front of a mirror because I love myself and am badass, but that’s just me.
Okay and so all of this probably makes it seem like I desperately hate this book or am unable to have fun, but I actually have enjoyed lots of it. I just think it’s important to also be aware of these sorts of things and interrogate them.
(Side note: Written on Your Skin by Meredith Duran has similar pseudo-kidnapping aspects where the heroine wants to bang her kind of kidnapper/jailer, but her clearly expressed unhappiness w/ the situation is never minimized in the same way.)
Linda, I shared a lot of the same concerns as you did. I really wanted to like this book, and everything up until the kidnapping drew me in. In the end, I also couldn’t deal with the way people dismissed the fact that she was kidnapped. (At one point she’s even criticized for whining….by her kidnappers…like what? She doesn’t have to be pleasant to the men who kidnapped her, good reasons or not) It doesn’t matter if they ever planned to hurt her. The fact is, she was taken against her will and forced into a situation she didn’t initially agree with. Even if that’s all they did, that is enough to make them the bad guys. The whole but they didn’t hurt her argument is akin to the whole ‘but not all slavery is bad’ argument for me. A slave that is well fed, finely dressed, well treated and befriended is still a slave, even if the slave’s captors have ‘good’ reasons. This combined with the almost instant love thing completely put me off. I have actually liked books with this setup. For instance, though not exactly the same but similar, I loved Rogan and Nevada in Ilona Andrews’ Burn for Me. For whatever reason, this one just didn’t do it for me.
I just finished this one over the weekend. And this is the word I’d use to describe it: “Warprizey”, which in Kati-world, is a compliment of the HIGHEST order.
When I read fantasy romance I always, always hearken back to Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan. And this book worked for me in exactly the same way. It had a heroine who had agency, despite her circumstances, an interesting and fully fleshed out mythology (based in, you know, mythology), and it had a Caretaking hero, which is my favorite. Plus, it had a ton of adventure, which really drew me in. I do agree that sometimes, Cat’s magic was a bit too convenient, but it always made me wonder what *more* we’d find out about her, so it barely gave me pause.
I loved, loved, LOVED this book!
I stayed up until 2:00 am this morning reading this book! I loved it and Kati – I also got a great Warprize-vibe from it. I thought that Bouchet’s dialogue was slightly better, though. One of the things I liked was the interweaving of his “you can try” and her “Do I need to say it in sign language?” While this is a cute running theme through the book, it evolves and it becomes something meaningful each new time it’s said.
BTW, the audiobook is on sale for $3.49 and sounds pretty good in the sample. I will be listening to it next, even though I just finished reading it 🙂
This book isn’t perfect, but I thought it was well-worth reading–I picked it up intending to read a chapter or two and ended up going to bed at 1 AM. I LOVED Cat’s narrative voice. I thought the “road trip” segment was stronger than the “court” segment–I think because I loved the interactions between Griffin and Cat, and once they get to his sister’s court Griffin is distracted by court business so Cat spends most of her time interacting with other characters who either hate her or think she’s perfect. (I also could have done without the female antagonist whose sole motivation is jealousy over being replaced). I am really looking forward to book 2 but wonder if it will sustain interest since the romance plot is pretty well resolved at this point.
I was skeptical about starting this book for all the reasons mentioned here. And I thoroughly enjoyed it; Cat’s voice especially, the road trip particularly, and my love of first-person-present-tense narration will keep me entertained until the day I die. This was completely unexpected in every way and I am so glad you reviewed it.
I really liked this book. Any recommendations for a similar fantasy series? I also enjoyed warprize
Just read this and thought it was awful… I thought Cat was whiny and Griffin was dull and lacking in nuance. World building was lame and the Greek element sketchy and superficial. I was hoping for something like an Attolia type vibe with subtlety and complex politics but the world building and romance were very flimsy and basic. Nearly a DNF for me.
Tried for 2 chapters, very much interested because of the great review. Could not manage the first-person-present style, jarred me every page. Oh well; YMMV.